Skywalker Order
by WizMonCruWil
Summary: Five more months until the Rise of Skywalker - why can't time go faster? I have wanted to write this for a long time, and it takes place after Episode IX. Some of the endpoints I have written may not be correct. Flashbacks to before sequel trilogy are in Chapters 2, 4, 5 and 7. Come along and see how the Jedi Order will be rebuilt into something new, both past and present. Enjoy!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Rey ducked and weaved, leaping into the air to avoid the swish of the slimy tail. She landed in a crouch, her lightsaber igniting again, and she broke into a running charge.

Since defeating the Dark Side acolyte, the Emperor, the First Order and bringing Ben Solo back to the Light, she and her lover (she no longer needed to pause in order to determine what he was to her; that had been agreed upon at the end of the war) had been living in exile on Tatooine. Rey was grateful that the Resistance had allowed Ben to serve out his sentence in this way, instead of paying for his crimes with his life. Ben was amazed that Rey had even wanted to go with him, to live out the rest of her days on _another_ desolate desert dump of a planet. The night following the verdict, she and Ben had undertaken a soul-baring, frank discussion of their relationship and their future. Rey had blasted out, blushing beet-red, how she wanted him, wanted to be with him. At first, she feared she had been too forward, but that panic was quickly put to rest by Ben Solo grabbing her and kissing her senseless, an overture which quickly dissolved into him taking her virginity against the wall of the _Millennium Falcon_. Rey grinned idiotically, her face turning crimson at the memory. It had been the happiest night of her life, without question.

Unfortunately, the romantic thoughts deluging her head left the besotted scavenger girl distracted just enough for Zirro the Hutt to sideswipe Rey with his tail, knocking her to the ground and casting her lightsaber out of her hand. She gritted her teeth. The First Order might be no more, but that didn't mean there wasn't unfinished evil left to attend to. Crime Syndicates were more prevalent than moths on a bantha these days, looting the spoils of war and picking over the remains largely unchecked: Crimson Dawn, based out of Savareen; The Cloud Riders in the Bheriz sector, and now the Hutt crime lords here on Tatooine. Though according to Ben, the Hutts had retained the run of the planet, ruling here unchallenged for at least the past century. Rey now could fully appreciate why - she had made the mistake, upon infiltration of the palace, to assume that Zirro's girth hampered his speed. This was not so, as Zirro closed in for the kill, aiming at Rey with his carbonite blaster.

"NOOO!" All at once, a lulling shadow passed over Rey's form, and there Ben stood, red lightsaber crackling and blocking her with his own body. Zirro fired, an icy blast emanating from the chamber, which hit Ben squarely in the chest. Instantly, his entire body froze so that he became an almost granite statue.

Rey's shock quickly morphed into rage, and she used the Force to catapult herself over her lover, summon her lightsaber back into her hand, and decapitate Zirro's head from his shoulders in one, clean stroke. Landing gracefully, she spun back to the man she loved.

"BENNN!" The cry was anguished, and she tentatively, fearfully, approached his frozen form. Even his expression was held forever in a state of determined resolve. "No... No... Please, no..." Rey whimpered, her shaking hands reaching to cup his face. It was cold, stone-cold... "Oh, Ben!" Rey collapsed in a mess of wracking sobs, throwing herself across him. Overcome, she cradled his face in her hands and kissed his iced lips gently, pressing her mouth to his again and again.

For a moment, there was silence and stillness. Then -

It felt as though Ben's body was becoming progressively warmer, like how a fresher gradually increases its temperature from cold to hot settings. And then... Ben's lips _moved_. Rey felt them shift underneath her own, twitch into hers, and for a moment, she felt as though he was kissing her back. Her eyes popped open, and then widened when she saw smooth white skin encircling her waist, pulling her closer. Fingers hovering over the dainty curve of her ass. Eyelids drooping heavily, Rey's eyes fluttered close as she relaxed into the kiss with a relieved sigh, draping her arms lazily about Ben's neck as they deepened the kiss. "Hmmmmm..."

After several minutes they broke apart, and Rey's face split into a beaming smile of joy. "Ben!" They embraced, hugging and laughing. She leaned back, peering up into his face. "You sacrificed yourself for me?"

Ben smiled, and it was his real smile. The smile that made him _her_ Ben. "I love you," he professed quietly, as if that explained everything. And perhaps it did. "Will you marry me?"

_That_ she had not been expecting. Rey's thoroughly kissed mouth fell agape, her cheeks turning rosy pink. As a little girl, Rey had held dreams of falling in love and marrying, but only after finding her parents, of course - a foolish set of priorities she had then. Rey could see that clearly now. With time, the rough sands of Jakku had hardened her outlook, leading her to the opinion that marriage was a silly, pointless invention.

But that was before Ben had entered her life. She had never felt anything like what she felt for him, and she did know that marriage was one way to profess that to the galaxy. And she couldn't imagine spending her life with anyone else. Hadn't she already vowed to do so by going into exile with him?

As she was thinking all of this, Rey was running her fingers gently through the black locks of Ben's hair, eyeing him skeptically, almost... amused. She gazed deep into his eyes... a brilliant blue... and at long last, her furrowed brow turned into a shy smile.

"Y...yes," she got out, nodding her head once, and then giving her answer to his proposal more assuredly. "Yes, I will."

Ben smiled, and he and Rey embraced and kissed.

* * *

If Rey had ever thought about her wedding, she had imagined a simple ceremony on Jakku, under the canopies of Niima Outpost with acquaintances and friends and possibly her parents as witnesses. She had never, in her wildest dreams, expected to be given away on one of the finest terraces of Naboo's Theed Palace. But she was here, and she could think of no better place to marry Ben Solo than on the balcony where his grandfather and grandmother supposedly wed.

Poe Dameron gave her away. Finn stood by Ben's side as Best Man - an awkward arrangement for both men. The holy man - a minister from the Church of the Force - blessed them, and Rey briefly wondered if they were doing the right thing. But one gaze into Ben's beautiful eyes and she held no more doubts.

"I love you," she recited her vows. "It may be simple, but I love you." Taking a deep breath, tightly holding her wedding bouquet, she sent Ben a beaming, besotted smile. "I love my husband."

Two minutes later, those words were no longer premature.


	2. Chapter 1: Artifact Blueprint

**Chapter 1: Artifact Blueprint**

Living out life on a moisture farm was not a bad existence, all things considered. It was humbling, and a relatively simple life - not unlike what Rey had experienced for her first nineteen years on Jakku. And being a simple woman in her tastes, Rey would have been perfectly content to marry Ben Solo in their living room. But her husband-to-be would not hear of it. Pulling some strings (and after a long talk requesting permission from Poe), Ben and Rey had eloped in a hurried church wedding, in one of the finest chapels on the planet of Naboo. Through their Bond, Rey had sensed that the place held a sentimental value for Ben, but he did not reveal in what way. And she didn't ask. If Ben wanted to open up to her, he would do so. It was one of the first things they had come to agree on in their relationship. They were getting really great at this communication stuff. Talking telepathically through the Force Bond had its conveniences, but the silence could make one go stir-crazy.

But what was making Rey stir-crazy now was not the communication preferences of her husband. It was that she had woken up this morning alone in the bed they shared to find the _Falcon_ gone, along with Chewie. Though she had found Ben's saber on his nightstand, so she knew he had to still be on-world.

Rey now entered the family barn, to find the Bond roaring to life, a familiar essence flickering. He was here, though not immediately in her sights; her eyes fell on BB8 huddled in one stall instead.

"Ben? Where's Chewbacca?" The droid gave a low whistle, and she frowned, stalking closer with an exasperated sigh. "Don't be coy, answer me."

Ben now came into view, patting BB8 on the head reassuringly. "Easy, BB8, she can't help being bossy."

Rey fixed her husband with a bemused frown. "I'm not bossy, I'm your wife," she pointed out.

Ben smirked. "Isn't that what wives do? Boss other people... _around_?" As he said this, his one paw of a hand snaked around Rey's waist, pulling her flush against him.

Rey cocked an eyebrow, so that it nearly disappeared into her hairline. She saw what he was doing. And even though it was sexy as hell, she was not going to fall for it. "Don't change the subject, Ben: where's Chewbacca?" There was a pause as he struggled to look at her, and instinctively, she reached out with the Force. She saw a volcanic world, bathed in a fiery orange glow, backlighting a castle on the rocky magma.

Ben swooped down and kissed her in that instant. Rey moaned of her own accord, her hands fisting the fabric of his tunic, as she kissed him back. But then, she remembered herself, as Ben's lips set hers free, as they dive-bombed in an attack on her neck. "Mmmmm... Mustafar?" she guessed, panting.

His hands were cupping the curved flesh of her ass now, feeling her up. Aroused, Rey automatically raised her leg to his torso, hooking her thigh about his middle. Ben hoisted her off the ground effortlessly, and the couple staggered back into the nearest wall, their lips snapping back together in hot, open-mouthed kisses.

Even as she allowed herself to be seduced, Rey managed to sort through the carnal thoughts in her lover's head to the ones pertaining to the answers she needed to know. Chewbacca was on Mustafar to get something, and Ben had to make sure that... that he wasn't followed. Rey titled her head, as Ben found her pulse point again, her breath coming in rough gasps.

"You're... you're trying to delay me... mmmmmmmm..." she groaned. In response, Ben grinded his pelvis into her center, stimulating her core. Very wet and beside herself, Rey felt her gaze shift over to BB8. The droid whistled at her almost mournfully, so she closed her eyes, leaned into Ben and kissed him harder. She eagerly pushed her breasts up into his chest when a hand reached out to squeeze one, rubbing the pebbling nipples sultrily against his toned pectorals. "Hmmm... yes, more, please," she rasped.

Clothing fell away, and Rey soon felt her walls clamp down on a wild, bloated thing, plunging itself into her warmth and wetness. Husband and wife spent the next ten minutes having sex, rocking and undulating against the wall of the barn. Sighs, pants, curses and growls emanated from their throats, until at last, with a cry into his shoulder, Rey came utterly apart, riding out her orgasm until Ben set her gracefully down and pulled out. The sudden backfiring of thrusters could be heard, and Rey and Ben scrambled to hurriedly redress, both pink in the face.

The _Millennium Falcon_ was touching down for a landing beside the vaparators, and Rey ran to embrace Chewbacca, her friend. Once her foggy brain was cleared of post-coital bliss, she could ask Ben why he kept this secret from her.

But then, Chewbacca presented her with a leather-bound book, and Rey knew instinctively that this was what the Wookie and Ben had been trying to hide from her. "What's this?" she asked, turning the tome over in her hand.

Ben sauntered up to his wife, smiling almost smugly at his own cleverness. "That, my dearly beloved, is from my grandfather's library."

Rey turned back to him, intrigued, leafing through the pages. "Darth Vader's manual?"

A slight cloud came over Ben's face. "For capturing fugitive Jedi and other Force-sensitives," he elaborated bitterly. "During the early days of the Empire. It was his technique for tracking and capturing those attuned to the Force."

Rey's face fell. "Oh. Well... what do we need this for?"

Ben cleared his throat, as if he had something lodged in it. "When my uncle was trying to re-establish the Jedi Order, he would find a nexus of the Force that would lead him to Force sensitives. I went with him on those recruiting missions sometimes, so I saw how it worked, and it did work, well enough. Grandfather's technique is more refined. With it, we can hone in on an individual's Force essence. But instead of capturing and killing them, we'll recruit them. To our new Jedi Order."

Rey smiled with excitement. She and Ben had discussed often, sometimes in bed after making love, how they would reintroduce the Jedi Order to the galaxy. It made for interesting enough pillow talk, and gave both Force beings a purpose in this life.

Just then, a Class B freighter came streaking across the sky, followed by a familiar X-wing, into Tatooine's airspace. Rey's smile broadened. She knew who it was. "Come on. We'll have company for dinner tonight."

By the time Rey and Ben arrived back at the farm, the arriving ships were just landing besides some power converters. The ramp of the freighter was lowering. Rey spotted a familiar figure of dark skin, the sunlight blinking off his frame. With a happy shriek, she leapt into Finn's arms and he spun her around, laughing. Beside them, Poe clambered down from his X-wing, clapping his friends on the back.

"Hello, all! Care to host us for a night?"

"Definitely," Rey beamed. "We've been starved for some entertainment, this idiot especially." She jerked a thumb back to Ben, who scowled without any malice, but all the same hung back. Rey understood that he was not the most social being in the galaxy, except with her. There were moments when her husband could be painfully shy and self-conscious.

"I think I can manage that," and Rose Tico came waddling into view. Rey took one look at her belly and gaped.

"Rosie... are... are you...?"

Rose bit back a smile and nodded.

The girls let out twin shrieks and embraced, dancing around in a circle. Rey then ran to embrace Finn. "You're going to be a father!" she cried ecstatically to her oldest and dearest friend.

"Finally! Someone else can learn how to be a good parent!" A figure in purple and gold swooped down the gangplank of the freighter. Statuesque in chrome plating, she had an array of blasters on her belt set to kill... and looks to match.

Rey smiled weakly as she strode forward to embrace the woman. "Hello, Mother."

Zorri Bliss had operated for many years as a bounty hunter on the rocky world of Kijimi. In her youth, she had grown up on Jakku before falling pregnant with Rey, but had been forced to leave her child behind and flee for her life after a robbery job gone bad. The father was long dead, but mother and child had found each other again during the war, and Rey had found it in her heart to forgive her. Zorri had been to Rey's wedding, and given her blessing for Rey to marry Ben.

"Why don't you all spend the night? You can tell all about what you've been up to, and Ben will get something hot on the table!" Rey invited. Her extended family were quick to say Yes.

* * *

Ben watched as his wife prepared for bed that night at her vanity, finally approaching their bed with her brown hair down in ringlets. Rey eased back the covers as she clambered into bed with him, the couple snuggling together in the darkness and listening to the sounds of their house fall away. It had been a long night of boisterous storytelling and drinking, Poe regaling them with tales of exploits out by the Outer Rim. Alliance building on behalf of the Organa Republic, named after the late Leia Organa Solo, had begun in earnest.

"Ben?" Rey's sweet voice pinged into the darkness.

"Hmm?" he harrumphed at her side.

"Can... can you tell me what it was like? Luke's first Jedi Order, I mean."

There was a prolonged silence, broken only by her husband's heartbeat at her cheek and his even breathing. Rey knew Ben rarely liked to talk about his past, but she had learned that if she prodded nicely, she could get him to open up, a little at a time. Tonight was no different as Ben finally willed himself to speak.

"There were thirteen of us," he began. "We were probably doomed from the start with such a superstitiously odd number. About half of us were human - my Knights and I - and the other half were from other worlds."

_That makes sense_, Rey mused, and she thought back to some words that Luke Skywalker had told her on Ahch-To. _I took Ben, and a dozen students, and began a Training Temple_.

"I liked my alien classmates the most, even though I had never been very good at making friends," her husband continued. "They were from all over: Naboo, Rodia, Endor, here. Gungans and Wookies and Tusken Raiders... we even had an Ewok."

Rey giggled at the thought of a little furry monster, like the ones they had met on Endor looking for the ruins of the Second Death Star, wielding a lightsaber. "What was his name?" she found herself asking.

Ben cocked an eyebrow. "You really wanna know?" She nodded eagerly. He huffed out a sight. "Fucket."

"Benjamin Chewbacca Organa Solo!" Rey gasped, swatting his arm disapprovingly. "Language!"

"No, really: Fuck. Et. With an E. That was his name."

Rey took a moment to digest this, before letting out another giggle. "Are you serious?"

He smirked. "As serious as I can be, Rey Bliss Solo." She blushed at the rare intonation of her maiden name, and even more at her oft-used married one.

Rey now fully laughed - a trilling, crystalline sound - and settled herself deeper into his arms. "What was it like? Building an entire Order back from scratch?"

Ben's frame rumbled against her as he chuckled. "Not easy, let me tell you. Here's how it was..."


	3. Chapter 2: Naboo and the Rule of Two

**Chapter 2: Naboo and the Rule of Two**

Ben Solo watched dubiously as his Uncle Luke began packing up his X-wing. Yesterday morning, his parents had dropped him off on this hidden world that he didn't even know the name of, patted him on the head and then taken off again. His uncle had sent him straight off to bed after a light supper, promising him that they would begin the first lessons of his Jedi training in the morning.

Ben didn't see how loading up his uncle's X-wing constituted as _'training.'_ Unless, of course, his uncle had had a change of heart (Ben's own constricted with fear) and had decided that the boy was not worthy of becoming a Jedi after all.

"Uncle Luke," he whined. "What are we _doing_?"

Luke Skywalker turned back to his sister's son. He had a full grey mustache and pronounced goatee coating his chin. It made him look too old, Ben opined. But his eyes were just as piercing and mysterious as they had ever been, as the last Jedi in the galaxy queried, "What do you know about the Rule of Two?"

Ben thought for a moment. "It's a description of the exiles of Jedi Masters Yoda and Obi-Wan Kenobi."

Luke stared back at him blankly. "Impressive. Every word in that sentence was wrong." Ben inwardly flinched, cringing in embarrassment at his own foolishness, as Luke sat down on the bottom rung of his X-wing ladder. "The Rule of Two was actually a Sith mantra implemented by Darth Bane thousands of years ago. There could only be a master and an apprentice. After Order 66 and the Jedi Purge, Jedi survivors were forced to adopt a similar approach. In their exile, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda passed down their training to one student, and one student only: me. You and I? We're not going to do that. If we're going to rebuild the Jedi Order, we need to bring on more recruits."

This distracted Ben from ruminating that his answer had technically been half-right, from a certain point of view, and he scrambled back to his feet in excitement. "Really? How?"

Luke smiled. "By tapping into a nexus of the Force. It will guide us to worlds populated by Force-sensitives, and we can eventually hone in on one who is strong in the Force. I will leave that task up to you. Sit down on the ground, criss-cross applesauce."

Ben eagerly did as his uncle said. "Close your eyes." Ben did this, too. He could feel Luke circling behind him. "That's it. Breathe. Just... _breathe_. Now... reach out. What do you see?"

Ben twitched as he felt a presence building, a grey warmth building behind his eyelids. More pronounced shapes and colors soon followed, and he began to rattle off the visions he could see: "A beautiful palace, with a turquoise dome... grey mist... a swamp, or a bog. Water... I'm diving down..." He gasped. "Flickering lights underneath the water. Another palace... an undersea world of some kind..."

"Good," his uncle's voice tickled his consciousness. "Come back up."

Ben pulled himself free of the vision, and glanced up to see his uncle was back to packing, now more hurriedly. "What was that, uncle?"

"Naboo," Luke said shortly. "The marshlands of Naboo. Come on, climb up and squeeze in the back. This X-wing is built for one passenger, and Naboo is clear across in the Mid Rim. We had better hurry."

* * *

It took well over a galactic day to reach Naboo from the planet they had been based on. It was mid-morning by the time Luke's X-wing swooped into the lush planet's airspace, taxing down over the bustling city of Theed. Crammed in the back, his long, gangly and awkward legs stuffed painfully in what little space remained, Ben was able to ignore the discomfort for the first time as he gaped at the beauty spread out before him. The buildings were carved from some of the finest stone. Starships of every kind touched down into teeming ports, boasting creatures of every race he could imagine.

His uncle brought the X-wing down into the main hangar bay of the Naboo royal palace - an illustrious estate topped by an impressive turquoise dome. Flipping the hood of his Jedi robes over his face, Luke approached a service droid who had toddled over to welcome them.

"Tell Her Majesty the Queen that Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and his apprentice are here to see her."

The protocol droid bowed. "Of course, Master Jedi. Her Majesty is in receipt of your communique and has been expecting you." She waddled away, Luke and Ben leisurely following her. They passed through a maze of halls, polished to perfection so that the obsidian clearly showed Ben's reflection. At last, the pair entered a giant hall with floor-to-ceiling windows, each one displaying a panoramic view. The throne room. At the far side of the hall, sat one of the most beautiful women Ben had ever seen. Even with white make-up, slight lines of age were etched into her face, and yet she appeared ageless as well. Ben gulped, feeling his whole body go warm.

Reaching the throne, Luke knelt before the monarch, prompting Ben to also take a knee. "Your Majesty..."

"None of that now, Luke," the queen rose from her perch and descended to them. "Your are my ruler's child. Just Sabé will do." Smiling warmly, she helped the Jedi to his feet and pecked his cheek.

Sabé, at first glance, appeared to be pushing seventy. Ben had heard that she had ruled on the Naboo throne for decades, the longest of any monarch in the planet's history. The queen now turned to him with a warm smile. "You must be Ben. Oh my word..." She peered closer. "You have your grandmother's eyes."

Ben stared. "You knew my grandmother."

"She was Queen of this planet before me. I served as her handmaiden," Sabé stated kindly. Her gaze swiveled back to Luke. "Now, what can I do for you?"

Luke smiled. "A nexus in the Force has guided us here. We believe that a Force-sensitive resides on this world. With your permission, we would like to search the marshlands, for that is where the Force calls us."

Sabé nodded. "The Gungans. You will find your Force sensitive among their people. Our neighbors should be most accommodating to you. There are some still living who knew your mother and father well. May the Force be with you."

Luke and Ben bowed their thanks, and took their leave.

* * *

The last of a light fog was evaporating its way up into the sun-dappled sky as Ben and Luke crossed into the marshlands.

"The Gungan city is somewhere within these swamps," Luke informed his nephew, as he waded through a shallow bog up to his calves. Ben was less graceful, his feet squelching free of the muck as he picked his knees up high to follow after his uncle.

"Yeah, but where?"

Suddenly, the earth began trembling beneath the Jedi's feet. Moments later, a herd of fambaa could be seen loping through the trees, knocking down some of the trunks in their path. At the sight of the large creatures, Ben froze with fear. "Uncle...? Shouldn't we..."

"Moo-ey! Moo-ey! Oh, no! Help, help!" All at once, a gangly creature with long ears darted into the two humans' path. A Gungan.

"Both of you! Get out of the way!" Luke barked. Barreling into Ben and the Gungan, he knocked them both to the ground... but not far enough from danger and the falling trees. As one trunk crashed down towards them, it suddenly halted, rose, shifted several yards to the left before crashing harmlessly into the underbrush beside them.

Ben looked to his uncle. He hadn't used the Force to save their skins. And from the perplexed look returned to him, it appeared Luke hadn't either. Uncle and nephew's gazes snapped to the Gungan, who was shakily getting to his feet, palm stretched out. Ben gasped. "The Force sensitive!" he whispered.

Luke groaned as he staggered to his feet. "Thank you, little friend."

The Gungan turned back to him. "Oh no! Mesa thanking you! Yousa saved me! So mesa had to help you too! Mesa called Wall-Wall Binks!"

Luke smiled in amusement. "Tell me, Wall-Wall, how long have you had the Force?"

"Da Force? Dat what dis is?" Wall-Wall stared at his hand, as if suddenly fascinated by it. "Mesa no know. Mesa always use air in mesa hands, to get out of trouble. But... it da put mesa in trouble too." His head hung low then, his floppy ears drooping into his face. "Tis embarrassing. Mesa banished from Gunga hidden city. Terrible things done to me if mesa go back dere!"

Luke and Ben glanced at each other. Perhaps they could avoid having to go to the Gungan city after all. Luke had heard they were friendly to outsiders, in a way they had not used to be in decades past, but if they tried to ask permission for Wall-Wall to come with them... Wall-Wall's presence might do more harm than good. "Would you like to come with us, then? You can train to be a Jedi. I am Luke Skywalker, and this is my nephew, Ben Solo."

Wall-Wall's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Ye gods! Yousa Jedi? Mesa grand-Gungapa knew-sa da Jedi! Mesa be a Jedi too?"

Luke chuckled. "You can. Come along, little friend. Our ship is in Theed City."

The new trio trudged along their way through the marsh, Ben and Wall-Wall keeping at a distance behind Luke. Ben turned to the Gungan.

"Ok, I'm sorry, but Wall-Wall's too hard for me to get my mouth around. Can I just call you... Wally?"

Wally beamed. "Sure. Yousa smart, Benny! I like you!"

"It's Ben," Ben said shortly. "Now, come on!"

Before long, Luke's X-wing was peeling out of Nabooian airspace with a chattering Gungan and an awkward teenage boy crammed like sardines in the back. Ben winced.

"Wherever we land next, I'm getting us a bigger ship."


	4. Chapter 3: A Woman Has Needs

**Chapter 3: A Woman Has Needs**

Ben's voice trailed off when he noticed that his wife was starting to doze off. She had a dreamy smile on her face, her eyelids heavy as she snuggled closer to him.

"I think we had better stop there for tonight," Ben elected. After all, it was quite a long story. Wally had been only the first recruit and they were many others to go.

"No," Rey yawned. "Go on." She felt embarrassed and hoped that her husband didn't think he was putting her to sleep. "I love hearing your voice, hearing you speak. It's the sexiest thing in the galaxy."

Ben's lips upturned into a small, smug smirk, but he simply shook his head and brushed his lips along Rey's cheek. "Goodnight, my darling desert flower."

Rey purred and nestled ever closer. "Good night," she breathed airily.

* * *

Ben was yanked out of a deep sleep several hours later to find his lover still passed out beside him. The light in their rooms was an interesting purple, somewhere between the inky black of night and the grey of dawn.

For the next several minutes, Ben simply watched Rey sleep. Not a single blemish rested on her face, her cheeks were smooth and luscious. And oh! Those lips! Rouged and so incredibly soft. He would never tire of kissing them, of having those lips respond to him. Drinking her in, he appreciated all over again how the woman he had married was intoxicating.

Rey was lying on her side, her back to him. Still, that didn't stop Ben from craning his neck all the way over her form and kissing her lips with his own.

His kiss awakened her, but only slightly and after a moment or two. She let out a blissful sigh into his lips. "Hmmmm... Ben..." A slight giggle bubbled up from her throat, and encouraged, Ben snaked his arms about her. He pressed the throbbing evidence of his desire for her against her curved bottom. His giant, calloused hands brazenly cupped her petite breasts. He gave them both a plaintive squeeze, sensing Rey's nipples pebbling under his touch.

His intentions clear, Rey was awake, if still a little drowsy. She tired to shrug him off. "Not tonight, love..."

Ben's lips dipped to the pulse point of her neck, and he felt it accelerate traitorously under his tongue. Rey had to clap a palm over her mouth, stifling a little groan behind her hand. Ben licked her neck more insistently, then sent a love bite into her shoulder. "Uhhhhhh..." Rey moaned, squirming so that she grinded her arse against her husband's cock.

She gave in. Ben knew she would.

"Oh, all right." Practically, with an air of assertive no-nonsense, Rey flipped onto her other side and wriggled her hips against Ben's pelvis. Their lips met in a searing kiss that was all teeth and tongue and lust. Their hands roamed and rummaged, finding and shedding their sleepwear. Draping one leg lazily over Ben's thighs, Rey turned into her husband and allowed what made him a man to slide effortlessly into her.

The couple began to build up a friction, undulating like two banthas in heat. "Mmmmmm...Hmmmmm... Uhhhhhhhhh..." Rey groaned happily. "Ben... faster..." she whispered, pleading.

Ben picked up the pace, slamming into her again and again. Rey's eyes popped wide and she sucked in a gasp. "Mother_fuck_, Ben!" she let out a resounding hiss. She was starting to thrash and wriggle, silently begging for mercy. Her patience thin, Rey suddenly pushed Ben so that he slammed back into the mattress. Swinging her leg over, Rey daintily moved to straddle him, her hands running down his chest. But just as she was sitting astride his thighs -

Ben flipped them both, digging his lips into Rey's as he kissed her harder. The force of the impact made the headboard on their bed rattle, and Rey let out a startled yip into her husband's plundering mouth. Staring at him and his eyes black with lust, Rey let her head fall back into the pillow with a docile sigh. She slowly opened her knees, spread her legs wide, so Ben could nestle there.

Ben began to pound Rey furiously into the mattress.

"Oh God... Oh no... no..." Rey mewled weakly.

"Oh, yessss..."

"Oh nooooooooo... Oh, God, please..." Rey wailed.

"Yes... yes... Mother-kriffin' _hell_ yes!" Ben snarled, his tempo starting to weaken. "Fuck, Rey, I'm gonna cum..." He started to pull out, but Rey clamped her thighs around him, her heels digging into his buttocks and trapping him. He had done this before, whenever they made sweet love - pulling out like a gentleman before he ejaculated. She wasn't having it.

"You're staying right here... ooooh..." she chirped with an ecstatic smile as Ben's lips peppered her neck. "You can cum deep inside me. And you can stay there as long as you like. And if we make a baby, I wouldn't mind at all... Hmmmmm... Muhhhh..."

Her words were turning him on, spurring him to his release. Even as a trickle of doubt over one particular word festered in his heart. "FUCK, Rey!" A final, weak slam, and Ben came deep inside of her. Rey was thrashing underneath him and wailing. Finally, she screamed: "BEN!" and exploded all around him. Their bodies slapped sweatily together as they slowly came down from their high, riding out their orgasms together. Rey's brown hair clung to her soaked forehead. She and Ben shared a gentle, chaste kiss before clutching each other close. Rey choked back a sob at the overwhelming love she felt for this man.

"Maker, I... I love you," she wept. "_I love you!_"

Ben's lips danced along her skin. "I know. I love you too, Rey Bliss."

"Hmm," she murmured, amused. "I've been Rey Bliss Solo for a while now."

The sky was grey now, with just a hint of orange peeking through the drawn shades to indicate the rising of the sun. Kissing him one last time, very gently, Rey rose languidly from the bed they shared. "I'm going to put the kettle on," and she drew her bathrobe tightly around herself. Radiating bliss, Rey padded out into their meager kitchen to find...

She stopped dead. Poe and Zorri had their arms about each other in a tight embrace, kissing so thoroughly it was hard to tell whose lips were whose.

Rey's bruised and very kissed mouth dropped open in horror. "Mother!"

Poe and Zorri snapped apart, but only the former had the humility to turn pink. Rey's own face was flushed as she gawped. "What in Vader's name are you doing?"

"What's it look like?" Zorri grinned impishly. "We're necking."

Poe's hand scratched at something invisible behind his ear. "I better go out and check on those vaporators." Dropping a peck to Zorri's lips, he stumbled out of the sand hut.

Left alone, mother and daughter regarded each other awkwardly, Rey moving to ready the kettle for a pot of tea with shaking hands. She and Zorri had found themselves in stiff, awkward conversations before, but this had to take the cake. The pair were still trying to build up trust between each other, and it was a slow effort. Now... to realize her mother was having a passionate affair with one of her best friends... Rey's stomach churned.

She shouldn't have been so surprised, really. Though he sure didn't look it, Poe had more than a decade on her and was a couple of years older than Ben, and Ben was only just 31. Her mother was scarcely more than 40 galactic years old. Still...

"Rey." She didn't look up at Zorri's voice. "Little sunshine, look at me."

She didn't, but she did pause in her attentions with the kettle. "You could have been honest with me. That you and he were seeing each other."

Behind her, she sensed Zorri nod, conceding the point. "I know that," she murmured quietly.

"You gave me your blessing to marry Ben. Did you not think I would have given mine if Poe came to me? Asking for your hand?" Rey whirled around finally to face her.

Zorri shrugged. "I don't know. I want to build up trust with you. I just don't know how."

"Neither do I."

Zorri cocked an eyebrow. Even when ruffled, she looked stunningly beautiful. Rey could never hope to be as beautiful as _her_, genes passed down or not. Daughter or not. "Then why are you upset?"

Rey gulped, frowning. "I'm not," she insisted, though her words felt hollow, even to her own ears.

A probing sensation tickled her mind. For the briefest instant, she thought about blocking it out, but wouldn't that just prove her mother's point about trust? Rey let Zorri search her through the Force. Quicker than she imagined, her mother came to the answer.

"You've never imagined me as being with anyone other than your father," she guessed. Well, it wasn't really a guess. Just a statement of the facts.

Feeling chastened, Rey nodded. Zorri smiled softly. "I'm not surprised. He was quite handsome, to tell you the truth, if also a little brash. But we parted ways not long after we had to leave you. I heard through some bounty hunter connections that he had died. Murdered. It stung a little, but in a profession like mine, you can't let emotion stay for long."

Those words made Rey think back to what she had read in Luke's Jedi texts, about Jedi being forbidden from having attachments. It had been a foolish notion, one that she and Ben would discard when building their new Order. But for Zorri... "You would have made a good Jedi. Back in the Republic days."

Zorri trilled out a laugh and sat down at the table, accepting an offered cup of tea. She was no Jedi, but she did have the Force. A Force-sensitive bounty hunter was a scarily dangerous combination indeed - one that Zorri had made work to her advantage over a very long career. "Fiddlesticks! And you would have made a piss-poor one, with how loud and clingy you are in the sack."

Her crass assessment over her daughter's love and sex life made Rey nearly drop and shatter her tea cup. "I... I..." Heat bloomed on her cheeks. Zorri just smiled, tentatively reached out to touch Rey's hand. With a flurry of hope, she noted how her daughter didn't pull away.

"A woman has needs, dear. Same as any man. Does Ben satisfy them?"

Rey couldn't help it. She grinned, beamed almost stupidly. "Dear Maker, yes!" A pause, and then the two woman fell into peals of giggles. Just in time for Ben to walk into the room, a towel wrapped around his waist. He must have just come from the fresher.

"Well, isn't this nice!" He circled the table, dropping a kiss to Rey's lips. "Instead of standing feet from each other, skittish as womp rats, you're getting into girl talk!" He took his wife's hand and squeezed it. "Hurry and get ready. I wanted to take everyone out for an errand on the _Falcon_."

"For what?" Rey perked up.

Ben grinned broadly. "Recruitment. I'll tell you more on the way."

Rey beamed and pecked his lips happily. Recruitment. They were going to find their first Force sensitives today. Finn and Rose were roused soon after and the sand hut came to life, everyone chattering happily as they traipsed out to the Corellian YT-1300 freighter. Poe was standing beside it, doing some final repairs, but stood a little straighter when he saw Rey and Zorri coming, shifting sheepishly from foot to foot. With a gentle smile, Rey enveloped in a hug.

"You have my blessing," she whispered kindly. "Just please, come to me when you are ready to propose to her."

Poe gaped at her, but soon Rey's warmth made him give her a hesitant smile. The group boarded the _Falcon_, Poe and Zorri piloting. Rose went back into Han's former quarters to rest, for the sake of the baby. Finn and Chewie got into a pick-up game of Holochess, with Rey and Ben snuggling on the plush seats to watch.

"So... where did you and Luke go next after Naboo?" Rey asked.

Ben smiled wistfully. "Oh, that trip was fun! Let's see..."


	5. Chapter 4: Fucket, Going to Rodia

**Chapter 4: Fucket, Going to Rodia**

Ben had only heard stories about Endor from his parents and uncle. At the time, it had seemed like a mystical planet, too impossible to be real.

Imagine his surprise when Luke's X-wing touched down out of hyperspace to reveal a green-and-blue planet that was ever bit as beautiful as his family had described.

Luke circled the planet, taking them around the far side of its orbit to their real destination: the forest moon. As they dipped below the atmosphere and coasted through white, fluffy clouds, Ben felt a presence begin to tingle at the back of his mind, warm and inviting.

The nexus of the Force sensitive. They were close. He could feel it.

Luke powered down the thrusters, setting the X-wing gently down in a savannah like plain. The landscape seemed more reminiscent of the plains of Dantooine, and the discrepancy from the tales Ben had heard as a boy made him frown.

"Where are the forests?" he queried, as he and Wally scrambled out of the fighter, their muscles screaming in relief. Ben descended the ladder gracefully, with his clumsy companion more or less prat-falling his way after him.

"They are further on," Luke assured his pair of apprentices, stroking his light beard. "On the far side of this plain. There used to be more woodland, but ever since ruins of the Second Death Star entered the moon's atmosphere..." he shook his head sadly. "The environment has paid the price. Come along, you two."

His robes swept and snapped at his ankles as he strode across the plain, Wally dithering after him. Ben followed leisurely behind them, his gaze now focused on something in the slight distance.

Almost to the horizon but not quite lay the edge of a body of water - its size somewhere between a man-made lake and a miniature sea. Even from this distance, Ben could see the looming outlines of a half-sunken metallic structure reaching up towards the heavens. The ruins strangely beckoned to him.

Along with a raspy, croaky, mysterious voice: "_Come... come to me... take your grandfather's place... at my side..._"

"Ben?" Luke's call cut through the haze.

"Sorry, Uncle. Coming!" And Ben broke into a light jog to catch up to his companions.

The planet of Endor, just an orb in the sky, had made most of its trek across the moon's horizon by the time Luke, Ben and Wally reached the edge line of the trees. Long afternoon shadows stretched their tendrils out to the little band, revealing little as to what lay within. Ben was the only one who noticed Wally gulp. The trio had not gone very far through the forest when Ben heard rustling in the bushes and behind the trunks and fallen logs around them.

All at once, a band of furry little creatures had them surrounded. Weapons crafted from the forest floor - stone slingshots, rink-dink bows and arrows - aimed at them threateningly. Wally shrieked, and leaped straight into Ben's arms. Luke, however, simply through back his hood calmly, and chattered something in a foreign language which Ben caught none of.

Except for one word. It sounded like 'Wicket.'

The little furry teddy bears gasped and chittered amongst themselves reverently, before parting to reveal one of their own seated on a throne made of whalebone. A white Stormtrooper helmet from the days of the Empire was his crown. It must have been a midget Stormtrooper, Ben surmised, for the helmet did not even fit on the little monarch's head.

Smiling, Luke knelt before the Ewok ruler and the pair engaged in a fluent, foreign conversation. Wicket, the Ewok King, toddled off his perch and over to hug Luke around the middle, then signaled two of his advisers. Luke turned back to his pupils, grinning.

"Wicket says he knows of the Force sensitive we seek. He is a child still, and needs plenty guidance. Be sure to welcome him, boys."

Ben nodded, before promptly dumping Wally onto the forest floor. The Gungan sheepishly struggled to his feet. Soon enough, the two advisors to Wicket were back, intoning and chattering loudly. Luke translated.

"Presenting, the Prince of the Ewoks, youngest son to King Wicket himself... Prince Fucket!"

The two advisors parted to reveal a small Ewok male. He could not have been more than ten galactic years old. Luke knelt down before the prince, getting onto his level, and chattered kindly in fluent Ewok. No doubt he was making the formal offer to be trained as a Jedi.

Fucket began jumping up and down in response, before teetering over to Ben and Wally. Ben raised an eyebrow at his uncle, smirking in bemusement.

"He is our next recruit? Are the Dark-side users gonna cuddle him to death?... OW!" He jerked back and hopped from foot to foot, nursing his injured shin from where Fucket had sent a swift kick into it.

Their new ally set, the quartet bid farewell to the Ewoks and raced back out of the forested trees and across the plains. Ben paid no mind to the Death Star ruins and creepy voice in the distance this time - he didn't have time to. He was too busy dodging Fucket, who seemed to think that repeatedly kicking the Human was his way of conveying that he had something to prove. A bit of relief mixed in with the dread when Ben and Wally had to squeeze into the back of the X-wing once more. Ben glowered at Fucket, who was now happily seated in his uncle's lap. Casting his gaze up slightly, he managed to discern the readouts on their map... and their next destination.

"When we get to Rodia, with whatever credits we have left, I am buying us a ship!"

Ben felt, rather than saw, Luke's amused smile. "Yes, nephew."

* * *

Rodia was a remote jungle planet in the Tyrius system, clear across the galaxy from Endor.

And Maker, was it ever _hot_.

Not ten minutes walk from the X-wing, and Fucket was already sweating liters through his fur coat. Ben almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

About an hour later, the band of wannabe Jedi arrived at a little seaside village of Toopi, Luke proceeding in an assured direction.

"Our Force sensitive is close. I can sense him." The quarter proceeded along the fisherman's wharf, with green reptilian creatures sporting long noses and buggy eyes glancing at them warily. Finally, at the foot of one dock, Luke stopped and nodded. "There."

At the other end of the pier, steps away from where ocean began, a trio of armed men - bounty hunters, Ben identified with a wince - were bullying a Rodian teenager. He may have been Ben's age, perhaps a year or two younger. Slight and skinny build.

And apparently no muscles, because the bounty hunters were kicking him around like an astromech droid. Ben could sense the fear emanating off the Rodian boy in waves. He remembered one of the first pieces of advice his uncle had taught him: _fear is the path to the dark side..._

"HEY!" Luke suddenly bellowed. The bounty hunters barely had time to turn around before a blade of green plasma was igniting before them. Luke hacked through each bounty hunter as though they were paper, attacking to maim, but not to kill. Two mercenaries fell, significantly wounded, beside the Rodian teen. The third, with a gash across his chest, dove into the water and swam to get away.

Luke turned off his lightsaber and slowly approached the Rodian teen. The alien shrank against a pillar.

"Don't be afraid. We're not going to hurt you. I sense you are strong with the Force, young one." When a response was not immediate, Luke frowned. He only knew rudimentary Rodian - a language consisting of mostly Ooos - but before he could begin a pathetic translation, the Rodian teen spoke up.

"It's OK. I... I know Human English."

Luke blinked in surprise, then smiled in relief. "Oh. Oh, that's good."

"My... my name is Demitri." The Rodian peered at him. "You're him, aren't you? The Jedi. Luke Skywalker."

Luke dipped his head in acknowledgement. "I am. And I want to train you in their ways. Will you come with us?"

Demitri took in this news with the least enthusiasm of all of Luke's recruits. Indeed, he seemed wary and fearful. But there was also a spark of something else, just behind his eyes: fight, if only tepid. "Would I learn how to fight back? Defend myself?"

"You would," Luke nodded. "I believe in you, Demitri. Do you believe in yourself?"

A moment's pause. Then: "Yes. I guess..." Demitri perked up a little. "Our people guard a Jedi temple on this planet. It's a shrine, to the Jedi Knight Huulik, who served us in the days of the Republic. Someday... I would want to be like him."

"You will be," Luke promised, holding out his hand. "Let's go."

"Hold it!" Ben snapped. Everyone looked to him. "Before we go anywhere, I'm bartering us a ship. You can follow in your X-wing, Uncle Luke."

Luke's brow furrowed. But he remembered his promise to his nephew. "Very well, Ben."

Ben led the band through the village of Toopi until they reached the outpost's spaceport. He quickly set his sights on a CR90 Corellian corvette that he liked, and haggled a good price for it. It reminded him of the ship his mother had flown in her youth. It had been a real beauty; Ben had seen the holophotos.

Lowering the gangplank, Ben and his new friends bordered the corvette. Ben quickly settled into command in the cockpit; Demitri plopped into the co-pilot seat beside him. Glancing to the Rodian once, Ben nodded.

Meeting up with Luke's X-wing in the atmosphere above Rodia, the two ships took off into hyperspace.

* * *

Luke paced back and forth along the plains of Dantooine, sizing up his four students. There were more Force-sensitive recruits to find, but they would come in time. Now that he had gathered a sizable amount of students, Luke felt it was high time for their basic training to begin.

"Now in a lightsaber duel... things can change quickly - hot to cold! Just like that. You need to be able to let the Force help you adapt to the situation. You have to be able to think on your feet, and be present in the Force in every moment. I once heard tell of a Jedi Knight who took a lightsaber strike to the face! Blinded in both eyes! And yet he kept fighting!"

"How-sa?" Wally asked. "If he-sa get striked in da head... dat's bom-bad!"

"If you get struck in the head, it's over," Ben pointed out.

"Wrong!" Luke pounced. "If you get struck in the head, it's over. If you get struck in the _face_, the plasma will just melt off some of your skin! Then what are you gonna do?"

"Die." Everyone's heads snapped to Demitri, who had piped up in tremulous terror, as if the answer was obvious. "I'm gonna die."

"That's just what a Nikto Jedi once said on Ryloth!" Luke shook his head. Already, he was starting to tire of Demitri's wishy-washy trepidation. He hoped the boy would cast off his fear, and soon. "All right, now I'm going to split you into pairs for practice duels. I'm going to give you training lightsabers to start with. They won't pierce the skin, only singe it. Here's your training lightsaber..." He handed the first to Ben. "Here's your training lightsaber..." Wally was next. "Here's your training lightsaber..." Fucket had to hop up a little to snatch it. "Here's your pussy-ass training lightsaber..." Luke frowned as he presented Demitri with his last of all. "The winners of each duel face each other, and the winner of that duel gets the biggest portion of wampa meat at supper tonight." Luke gestured at the foursome impatiently. "Well, go on! Duel!"

Predictably, Ben won the whole thing. Though Fucket made him work for it.


	6. Chapter 5: Wookies and Babies

**Chapter 5: Wookiees and Babies**

It was a few weeks later, as Luke Skywalker paced before his four Jedi pupils. Their initial training had been going well. He was now teaching them the same lessons that Obi-Wan Kenobi taught him: how to block blaster bolts from a training bot, using only their training lightsabers and the Force. Visors shielded their eyes.

As usual, Ben was hitting everything expertly, if perhaps a bit too agressively. Demitri was doing more dodging and getting zapped than blocking. Luke hoped the Rodian had what it took... Much to his surprise, Wally had turned out to not be the clumsiest one of the bunch (as his race suggested), outside of a few pratfalls out of bed. He was blocking probably 3 out of every 5 bolts. Fucket, meanwhile, did not let his size stop him and was quickly becoming second only to Ben in proficiency.

Luke knew this could not last forever, living in ramshackle huts on the Dantooine plains. If he wanted to begin a respectable Training Temple, he was going to have to bulk up on recruits. Several nexuses in the Force had been calling to him - Kashyyk, Tatooine... he just didn't know which one to answer first.

All at once, a very familiar piece of junk came blasting into Dantooine airspace. Luke took one look at it and grinned broadly.

"Padawans! Fall in! We have guests!" Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his nephew spot his father's ship, a free hand jumping to the mane of black, untamed hair.

Luke strode towards the _Millennium Falcon_ as the thrusters powered down and the gangplank lowered. Han Solo strode off, all swagger and smiles.

"Han!"

"Luke!" The aging smuggler embraced his brother by marriage.

Ben came sidling up almost shyly. "Hi, Dad."

A slight pause, as Han regarded his boy, gave him just a glance. "Yeah... hey, son." He awkwardly ruffled his hair, then turned back to Luke. "I have news. You're about to go hunting for more recruits, right?"

"Yes," Luke brightened.

"Well, Chewie and I may have found one. We were back on Kashyyk, visiting a few relatives, and well... Chewie's tribe offered him up to us. Asked us to bring him to you."

The men now looked back to see Chewie striding down the gangplank. He was holding a smaller Wookie by the hand. The younger furry animal had maybe a few inches on Fucket - perhaps a Wookie boy just on the cusp of adolescence. Luke reached out with the Force and felt the energy field in the kid's veins. Sensed his name...

"Padawans: this here is Gurgi. He's going to be our new recruit. Ben!"

His nephew stepped forward. "Sir?"

"To avoid being the odd man out, you'll be sparring with me from now on. Fucket will be paired with Gurgi." He ignored how Han snorted and Chewie roared at the Ewok's funny name. "Back to fighting positions! Fucket, walk Gurgi through it." Luke then clasped hands with his brother-in-law. "Thank you, my brother."

"Always, Luke."

**END OF FLASHBACK **

* * *

Chewie howled as Finn beat him at holochess for the third time in a row, banging his fist down on the tabletop.

"I told you," Threepio piped up from where he had been playing referee. "Let the Wookie win."

"What? And just give up?" Finn asked, offended.

Rey only smiled, eyes closed as she burrowed herself deeper into her husband's arms. Ben got an almost lovesick expression on his face, and dropped a kiss to his wife's forehead. Just then, Poe strode in.

"We're still a good hundred lightyears from Canto Bight. You all should get some sleep. We'll be flying through the night and through most of tomorrow."

Chewie switched off the holochess board and Finn staggered towards Han's quarters where his pregnant Rose awaited. Ben picked Rey up in a bridal carry and escorted her to his own quarters. It always gave him a rush when he held her like this; he recalled sweeping her off her feet and away on Takodana, the day they met. And then again, carrying her across the threshold as his bride on their wedding day.

Ben's quarters dated back when he was a boy. They were small, but Ben did not mind the discomfort as long as he got to sleep beside the woman he loved. Besides, Rey was adorably petite, so they could both fit on the bed. Caressing back her hair, he was surprised when she hummed, stirring awake.

"Ben?" she purred.

"Hm?"

"Why don't you want a baby?"

The question caught him off-guard, but it made him flash back to that morning, while they had been making love: _And if we make a baby, I wouldn't mind at all... _

"Why do you want one?"

"I asked you first," she cocked an eyebrow at him. The expression was just expectant, harbored no judgment one way or the other. Perhaps this is what moved Ben to answer honestly, if more readily than he would have liked. But this was Rey, his wife. He could never lie to her.

"Because I'd be a rotten father, that's why," he said bluntly. "I couldn't bear to disappoint you. Or a baby of ours. My father was a poor parent. My mother's father was a poor parent. Both absent. I don't think I'm cut out for it. It's in my family's genes."

Rey just sent him that gentle, compassionate smile that made Ben feel like he was worth every star in the sky. "I want to have a baby... because I want to give you something that embodies our love. That personifies and proves my love for you."

"You already prove it. Every day," Ben shook his head in amazement.

"But I want to give this to you anyway. As a gift. Ben... I want to bear your child." And she laced their fingers over her flat stomach. She smiled softly, shyly. "I happen to think you would make an excellent father. We fought so hard for happiness, Benny." She crooned the words, resting herself on his chest. "Shouldn't we get to enjoy those riches?"

Ben said nothing. She had him there. They had fought for their love when others didn't believe in it. Winning the fight meant you were entitled to revel in the victory. Right?

"Will you at least think about it? Think about us getting pregnant?" And Rey's voice was so sweet that Ben could deny his love nothing. Despite the fears that still lay in his heart.

"I will consider it," he got out.

Rey beamed and craned her face up to kiss him. "Thank you."

And husband and wife snuggled down to sleep in each other's arms.


	7. Chapter 6: Old and Young

**Chapter 6: Old and Young**

Rey awoke in their bed the next morning to find Ben reclining in the chair beside his small desk. A pair of reading spectacles were pushed down to the bridge of his nose, his eyes glancing over the rims to skim the words on the page. Rey sat up with a sleepy smile, just content in watching him.

"Why didn't you tell me you needed reading glasses?"

Her husband started a little, glancing to her, and he shrugged. "I don't like having to wear them. I think they make me less...?" he seemed reticent to say the word.

"Handsome?" Rey guessed, finishing for him. At his sheepish nod, she beamed. "I don't know what you're talking about." She was pleased to see a redness flush along Ben's cheeks. Rising languidly out of bed, a wrap around herself, she draped her arms about him from behind. Kissed his neck. "Is that Vader's manual?"

He nodded. "We are getting closer to Canto Bight. I was going to practice the technique again."

Rey kissed the corner of his mouth. "How does it work?"

"Sort of like a photographic memory. You close your eyes and can feel the Force essence, then see the person's face in your mind. It's much more efficient than what Skywalker... Uncle Luke and I did, following Force nexuses like a metal detector." To demonstrate, he closed his eyes. A warm smile graced his lips a moment later. "I can feel you, my beloved. But if I reach out... I see it. I see Canto Bight... There! A stablehand - farm boy. Poor. And..." he frowned. "Another essence... an old man?"

Rey gasped. "There are two of them? Force sensitives?" she breathed.

Ben nodded. A knock on the door interrupted their concentration.

"I'll get it." Rey crossed to the door and opened it to find Poe.

"We have just entered the Corporate Sector. Cantonica is in sight on our readouts. Estimated arrival time to Canto Bight will be sometime this evening."

"Thank you, Poe." Rey closed the door and turned back to Ben. "Let's get dressed, love."

"Sure you don't want me to undress you first?" he waggled his eyebrows.

She swatted him. "We get those Force sensitives extracted, and I will shag you all night, mister."

"Done."

* * *

Jack Braidy flashed his key card to enter the farthiers racing complex. It was not the most glamorous of posts in his retirement, twilight days, but it gave him credits to pay the bills. Rent to live here was very expensive. Regardless of the necessity, it was a step down for him at 89 galactic years of age.

Jack didn't look the part, though; he moved more like a man in his sixties at best, and for that he was grateful. Things hadn't always been this destitute for him. Decades ago, he had been the leader of a successful textiles empire throughout this sector. The Clone Wars had occurred during the prime of his career and all those Republic warships had needed new floors installed, so business was outstanding. Then the Empire had taken over and many of his assets had been seized, though he was allowed to retain his position, on the condition that he install floors for Imperial freighters. Fearing for his livelihood, Jack had agreed.

At least until Darth Vader had his entire family murdered: his wife, five children and one grandbaby. With nothing left to lose, Jack had resigned from his company, blown up the factories and fled for the Cantonica system. He ended up here, on the streets of Canto Bight. Found work as a bouncer at one of the clubs. He'd thought about joining the Rebellion, but the possibility of becoming a prisoner of war had given him pause. Never did he want to risk crossing paths with Vader again.

The odd jobs continued as the New Republic rose, then gave way to the First Order. Jack had watched it all with heavy eyes and an even heavier heart. He was old enough to remember the Original Republic. The Jedi and all the good they had done. It seemed the Galaxy would never again know democracy.

Entering one of the stalls, Jack smiled to find his favorite stablehand, a boy of ten by the name of Temiri Blagg, readying the beasts for the evening's race. He reminded Jack of what his grandson, Logan, might have looked like at ten years old.

"Hello, little friend. Are the bets looking good today?"

Temiri grinned. "I should hope so, sir!"

Just then, the slave driver, a fat Tortuga, strode into the stalls. "OI! Get back to work, runt! No idle chit-chat!" He shoved Temiri into one wall, then moved on to inspect the beast. Jack clenched his jaw. He did not like the way that Berbulba treated the little children, even if they were the slaves he owned. Jack had never treated anyone at his company that way.

Berbulba was frowning now, shaking with anger. "The bridle's not right!" he exploded.

Still against the wall, Temiri shook with fear. "I... I..."

"Speak like a man, runt!" Berbulba went for Temiri. For a flash, he was pushed back slightly, with Temiri holding out a hand as if begging him to stop. Jack saw red, the power growing up behind his eyes.

And then, quite suddenly, Berbulba was lifted clean off the ground, suspended as if by an invisible string, gargling and sputtering and clawing at his throat. Two minutes passed, three, and then, with a crack, his neck snapped and he crumpled into the manure.

Jack stared. He knew, deep in his aging bones that he had just killed the alien. But how? Temiri too was staring at his deceased master and then back to the old man, trying to piece it together.

Jack had no time for it. The overseer would find Berbulba's body soon enough, would know he was killed in Temiri's assigned stall. And then they'd both be in for it.

"Come on!" Jack grabbed Temiri. Casting him over his shoulder, the old man ran out of the stables, darting and weaving his way onto the racetrack where a farthiers race was already in session. Behind him, the PING! of a blaster bolt whizzed past his ear. Stormtroopers, who had come here looking for security work after the First Order had disbanded.

"You, sir! Halt!"

Jack urged his legs into a sprint, moving with remarkable speed for his age. The gate leading into the stadium was lowering; he ducked under it in the nick of time. Dashed across the street and suddenly felt a rush of power as he vaulted over the brick wall opposite, making a jump he never should have made. The pair of runaways landed on a cobblestone street in the shadow of the casinos, only to find they were surrounded. Red-plated Sith troopers on all sides, guns drawn.

"Freeze! Hands up, Jedi!"

Mouth agape, Jack reached for the sky, putting his hands where the troopers could see them. _Jedi_? He was no Jedi; the Jedi were dead. Extinct.

Except for the one girl he had heard tell of...

Suddenly, two figures dropped into the posse, swords of plasma ignited - one blue and one crackling red. They cut through the Sith troopers as though they were weak durasteel, moving in sync almost as if it was a romantic dance.

When the last trooper had been bisected, Jack set Temiri down off his shoulder, gaping. The figure with the blue saber through back its hood to reveal a young woman of no more than 20.

"Come with us, if you want to live." Jack could only nod dumbly. He and Temiri followed the pair to a white, rusty ship, running onto the gangplank. All the while, Jack's mind whirled. He wasn't sure what it was about this girl that made him put his trust in her so blindly. It was her, the beautiful Jedi princess everyone kept whispering about. Her partner, still hooded, said nothing. And it wasn't until they were leaving Cantonica's atmosphere that the girl said, "Ben, honey, lower your hood. We're safe now," that Jack saw his face.

The young man had most of the time been seen with a mask. But enough holo tabloids had been circulated with his true face that Jack recognized him instantly without the visor. "You! You're Kylo Ren!"

Ben said nothing, instead staring at Jack emotionless. Jack's eyes narrowed. "Your grandfather murdered my family."

Now Ben's eyes held a hint of sadness. "I don't deny it. However my family or I have wronged you, I will make amends."

Looking to Rey, Jack pointed to Ben. "You trust this guy?"

The girl's brow furrowed. "He's my husband. I trust him with my life." It was said through clenched teeth.

"Rey." A gentle touch on her arm from Ben made her falter. Stick out her hand.

"Rey Solo."

"Jack Braidy." Jack clasped it. He gestured to Temiri.

"The boy..."

"Temiri Blagg," Temiri shook her hand. "I like you. You're pretty."

Beside them, Ben tensed. Rey eyed her husband, a little amused. "Really, my love, you're jealous of a ten-year-old?"

Ben squirmed but said nothing.

* * *

That night, Rey and Ben went into the lounge area, where she and her friends had fashioned quarters for Jack and Temiri on the already-crowded ship. The little boy was snuggled under blankets, and staring at Rey adoringly. Noticing, Jack chuckled.

"I think you have an admirer..." he tumbled low to Rey, chuckling again. "I tell ya..."

Temiri now held out a small object to Rey. "I've had this for as long as I can remember. It's a jappor snippet. It will bring you good fortune."

Rey accepted the gift with a tender smile, only to then frown at how Ben seemed to shake with displeasure at the trinket.

"My grandfather gave my grandmother a trinket just like that when they met. It was from Tatooine."

"And what's wrong with that?" Rey hissed at her lover. "We do live there, after all."

"It's not that. It reminds me of what happened on Tatooine the first time I was there."

"And what did happen?" Temiri inquired.

Ben's response surprised Rey. Instead of becoming more surly at the questioning or giving in to anger and annoyance, he instead cocked an eyebrow. "You really want to know?"

Temiri and Jack both nodded. Ben huffed. "Well, it was like this, see..."


	8. Chapter 7: Hutt Melee

**Chapter 7: Hutt Melee**

The CR90 Corellian corvette had barely powered down before Luke Skywalker was striding off the gangplank and onto the sandy dunes. He was moving at a brisk pace, almost like a power walk, and Ben suspected he might break into a run at any moment.

"Come on, you lot! Keep up!" Luke called to his five Padawans. Even his voice sounded anxious.

Wally huffed. "If hesa tells us to hurry up one more time... mesa gonna turns him into a big, fluffy hat," as he hoisted a giggling Gurgi onto his shoulders.

Demitri looked to Ben. "Any idea where we're going?"

"Nope," Ben shook his head. "Hey, Uncle Luke! Where are we going?"

"Jabba's palace," Luke threw over his shoulder. "Now keep up!"

The Padawans broke into a jog; Fucket had to nearly sprint to keep pace on his little, chubby legs. Ben felt his energy reinvigorated at his uncle's words. He had heard the stories of Jabba's palace and the throw-down at the Sarlacc Pit. It was where his uncle had first re-introduced the Jedi to the galaxy.

"There's a nexus of the Force inside the palace," Luke informed the group, more measuredly as the others managed to keep pace with him. But the wobble of nerves in his voice was still there.

Ben stared. "A Force sensitive? In the palace?" He had never heard tell of a Hutt Jedi. Ever. Of course, the Force sensitive might not even be a Hutt, but still...

Demitri also looked skeptical. "A Hutt Force sensitive? They're too fat!" Fucket made a noise that sounded like a guffaw.

Luke frowned. "Judge it by its size, do you? All things are not as they appear, my students. Remember that."

Ben nodded. "Yes, Master." A pause, and then: "But why the urgency?"

"I sense another nexus in the Force fast approaching this planet. They have come for what we seek. We have to get the Force sensitive before they do."

Jabba's palace now appeared over the crest of the next dune. The band of Force users eyed it warily. Even despite all the stories he had heard, the building still looked imposing to Ben. "I thought you said this place fell into ruin. Abandoned."

"It is," Luke confirmed patiently. "I'm pretty sure it is."

"Yousa _pretty sure_ it is?" Wally cocked an eyebrow. "Pretty sure isa not good enough, Masta!"

_Damn straight_, Ben thought.

"Stay close," Luke warned. Igniting his green lightsaber, he stabbed it into the door, slashing and swiping until he had created a gaping hole in the durasteel. The sunlight glared at the group's backs as they tentatively stepped into the darkness. Luke paused for a moment, then nodded.

"This way."

He guided the students into what looked like a throne room, complete with a dias. Through the Force, Ben felt his uncle shudder. "Never thought I'd be back in this place again." He swept his green lightsaber around, illuminating the dim lighting. Then - "There!"

At the foot of the dias sat a small wicker basket, lidded. Fucket toddled forward and lifted the cover off to reveal... a little Hutt baby. He couldn't be more than one galactic year old. Everyone in the group twitched. They could feel the Force emanating from it.

"A baby? We can't steal a baby!" Demitri shook his head. "Much less train it!"

"We-sa not stealing za baby. We-sa just..."

"I swear to Maker, Wally, if you finish that sentence with 'borrowing it'..." Ben muttered darkly.

A sudden explosion rocked the palace and blew a gaping hole in the far wall. Six dark figures swooped in on speeder bikes, guns blazing. A second later, a curtain was ripped down from its hinges to reveal a group of Hutts sliming their way towards the Jedi at unusual speed.

"Lightsabers!" Ben ordered and everyone ignited a blade. "Jedi, to me!"

Now with their bearings, the half-dozen Jedi moved as a team. Splitting off into pairs, each Jedi began to fight in sync with their partner, back-to-back, even when their counterpart was not in their direct line of vision. It was like a choreographed dance.

Ben spotted a black figure going for his friend. "Demitri, look out!" Wally leapt into the fray and forced Demitri's entire upper body down. Rolling over his back, Ben sliced at the advancing adversary, wounding him so that he was knocked down.

The sounds died down as all 6 Jedi now found themselves in a posse ring, shoulder to shoulder and staring down at the six dark figures they had just dispatched, along with several wounded Hutts.

Gurgi cheered.

"Kriff yeah, we threw down, Gurgi!" Ben laughed.

Wally pointed to the figures in black. "Who are they, Master Luke?"

"Enfys Nest," Luke said grimly, glaring down at the dark figures. "They're a crime syndicate in the Savareen system. But..." And frowning, he reached out a hand. "They're all... Force sensitive?"

A window crashing in made the whole room look up, as Tusken Raiders poured into the throne room. They raised axes and clubs and other various weapons and howled. Snarling. Ben pointed his lightsaber at them, but Luke stayed his hand. "It's all right. They are just here to steal water. They've been fighting against the Hutts for generations." He seemed particularly focused on the Tusken Raiders' leader, who now advanced on the aging Jedi Master. Ben could sense the aura about the Tusken, too, as Luke swung his laser sword...

And sliced off the leader's tunic.

All at once, the Tusken Raiders began to howl and make furious motions towards their leader. Wally leaned over towards Ben. "Whatsa they doing?"

"They are casting her out of the tribe. It's a shameful crime to have your tunic torn," Luke translated. He now addressed the disgraced Tusken leader. "Come with us, Sharradah Hett, and you can learn the ways of the Force."

Demitri stared. "It's a _girl_?"

All at once, Fucket began chittering and jumping up and down. "Oh, Fucket, what is it now?" Ben sighed, exasperated.

Turning back, the Jedi saw Enfys Nest struggling to their feet. In the next second, however, they were all kneeling before the Jedi.

"Master Skywalker, if it pleases you, let us learn the ways of the Force from you," their leader said through the modulator on his mask.

Luke stroked his beard contemplatively. He glanced from Enfys Nest, to Sharradah Hett, to the little Hutt baby. "Thirteen students. So be it."

**END OF FLASHBACK**

* * *

Rey stared at her husband. "And so those guys in Enfys Nest... they became the Knights of Ren, didn't they?"

Tellingly, Ben refused to look at his wife. "Yes." He waited for her to make clear that it was his first friends who had met their death at the Training Temple. Gurgi. Fucket. Demitri. He waited for Jack and Temiri's judgment. None of it came. Instead, he felt understanding lips brush his cheek... which may or may not have been a little salty.

"I think it's time for bed," Rey murmured soothingly. She and Ben bid their two recruits goodnight, before retiring to their chambers for bed.

The door had barely closed behind them before Rey felt herself being forced by strong hands into the fresher. She slammed into the tiled wall, then felt wet, hot lips assault her mouth. Heard the water blasted on as hard as it would go, even though she and her husband were still fully clothed. No matter. They wouldn't be for long. "Mmmmmmm..." Moaning, Rey closed her eyes and wound her arms about Ben's neck, kissing him back with passion. Her eyelashes fluttered, her breasts heaving under rough gasps and Ben's squeezing touch, as his lips dipped down to suckle her neck.

"I love you!" he got out. "Thank you... thank you for not passing judgment on me..."

"I would never... oooooh... pass judgment on you," Rey sighed, bucking her pelvis against Ben's straining erection so as to make her want clear.

"Rey?"

"Y-yes?"

"Do you still want a baby?"

"I do," she sighed. "I do, I do..."

Ben paused in his kissing, and Rey's heavy lidded eyes fluttered open, to see that his own were black with lust and heavy with resolve. "Then let's make one. Let's start trying."

Overjoyed, Rey gasped and yanked Ben to her, kissing him thoroughly. Clothes fell away. Ben hoisted his wife up the wall and was soon roughly slamming into her again and again. As the steam rose about them, husband and wife had sex...


	9. Chapter 8: Fertility Issues

**Chapter 8: Fertility Issues**

Several weeks later, back in their fresher on Tatooine, Rey sat down on the cold tiles crying, her tears mixing in with the droplets of the shower spray. Through her filmy vision, she watched as the tiny strip of paper in her trembling hand became damp from the water.

Test negative. No baby.

She and Ben had been trying by night every night for the past several weeks - mostly to work off their exhaustion from Jedi training Temiri and Jack all day. But also so they could look forward to building their real family as much as they were looking forward to building their Jedi one. So far, the couple had only been met with disappointment. When Rey had gone to her mother with her frustrations, a few days earlier, Zorri postulated that she and Ben were trying to hard.

"Let nature and the Force take its course, love," Zorri had advised. "Sometimes, conception happens when you aren't looking for it. Maybe you and Ben should just have sex for enjoyment's sake. If a baby results, a baby results."

Rey had loosely translated that to mean that she needed to be patient. It seemed so rich, so ironic, coming from her mother. Rey was tired of being patient. She had waited for 19 kriffin years on a desert rock like this one for her mother and father to come back for her, only to be disappointed. She and Ben had worked so hard to be together, against all the odds. The will of the Force had brought together their love, helped unite them as man and wife. Couldn't it perform one last favor and bless their union with a child?

Drying and dressing back into her nightgown, pulling her bathrobe around herself, Rey stole past her bedroom where her sleeping husband lay and wandered out into the balmy Tatooine night. Reaching the crest of a slight dune on the edge of the property, she gazed up at the stars, at the twin moons now making their dance across the heavens.

"Please, Lord... let me have a child. I've always wanted a family... and Ben needs one. He's lost his parents, his uncle. He has only me. I love him, Lord... let me bring this gift unto him... I don't care if my body succumbs from the pains of labor. An act of the greatest love must be consummated with the greatest pain. If I die in the act of childbed, let me die. Just please bless us with a baby..."

"I always thought the Maker was an indifferent deity. Certainly not a benevolent one. Otherwise, why would the galaxy know so much sadness?"

Rey jumped a little, startled, whirling around to find Jack Braidy. She giggled sheepishly at being caught so vulnerable. "Oh... Jack, I was just..."

Jack just smiled a crinkly smile. Dared to put his arm around her. "Girl child, I know you might not see it now. But you have so much ahead of you. It's not so easy, to want something so badly and have to wait for it."

"I always thought if you wanted something too much, you would never get it," Rey mused. It had certainly felt that way, in waiting for her parents.

Jack rumbled out a laugh. "Oh, now I don't think that's true. Faith is sometimes answered. Sometimes it isn't. That doesn't mean we should surrender it. And besides... the Force is at work, right alongside the Maker. Or maybe the Force is just doing the Maker's work for him. And whatever's left is up to us."

Rey considered this wisdom. In a way, it made sense. And for Jack to place so much trust in the Force when a few weeks ago it had not even awakened in him... "You seem to have given a lot of thought to this."

He nodded. "I have."

Rey played with the edges of her bathrobe. "I can imagine, after Vader murdered your family."

Jack nodded again. "They are one with the Force now. I have to believe that." Turning to her, he caught Rey's chin in the moonlight, examining her face this way and that. "You know, you remind me of my youngest girl. When the Empire rose to power, she was studying to be a schoolteacher on Coruscant."

"What was her name?" Rey breathed.

Jack smiled sadly. "Her name was Rosemary."

* * *

The sun was at high noon, beating down on them, several months later, as Rey and Ben worked on lightsaber forms with Jack, Temiri and their two new recruits: a 30-something female Dug named Quihilda and a middle-aged Cerean named Ko-Pado Zundo. At the moment, Ben was not paying attention to his sparring with Jack and paying more attention to how gracefully his wife moved in combat against Quihilda. Her moves were smooth, almost sultrily, accentuating the swell of her stomach. Making her ballooning breasts filled with a mother's milk bobble in a tantalizing way.

He felt his erection strain against his underwear, and could only pray that he didn't come in his pants.

"Stop," he got in between Quihilda and Rey. "Don't do that!"

Her doe brown eyes blinked at him innocently. "Do what? Why are you so upset?"

Ben leaned in close to her lips and growled low, "Because you are here acting all pregnant and sexy while a ten-year-old boy is fifteen feet away. And I don't think what I want to do to you is fit for babes to see."

Rey's breath hitched in a gasp and she could see how Ben's impossibly blue eyes were smoldering. Her own orbs flitted down to her stomach as she ran her hands along her baby bump. "Baby, I'm sorry, but we have to go inside. Daddy can't control himself." She glided away towards the door of their hut, swiveling her hips and arse seductively before turning back to her husband. Her gaze brokered no argument. "We'll finish this later."

Ben had to tamp down a moan as he held her eyes. "Damn right we will." He watched her exit gracefully into their home, then turned his eyes to the heavens, trying to calm himself down. "All right, Skywalkers! Pair up! Temiri, you play ref; watch for mistakes in form..."


	10. Chapter 9: Order of Skywalker

**Chapter 9: Order of Skywalker **

Little 8-year-old Emily Solo came up the steps leading out of her and her parents' hut, smiling as she briefly squinted up at the twin suns orbiting around Tatooine. She lived a simple life here, on the moisture farm compound that also housed the Training Temple for the Order of Skywalker.

Her parents were Ben and Rey Solo, descended down from some of the most renowned Jedi and Sith the galaxy had ever seen. Once upon a time, they had fallen in love, and her mommy had brought her daddy back to the light side of the Force. At the same time, however, Rey and Ben had wanted to build something new, in re-introducing a new generation of Force users back into the galaxy. And so, to honor the memory of Emily's great-uncle - the famed Jedi Master Luke Skywalker - her parents had taken his name to title their new Order.

The Skywalkers, as they were known, were no longer just one bloodline in the Force. They were the embodiment of the Force's balance, the dark side and the light, similar to the smattering of Grey Jedi that had existed in the days of the Original Republic.

Approaching the Training Temple, Emily could see Zorri Bliss Dameron, her maternal grandmother, coming out of the hut she shared with her husband, Poe. Technically, Poe was Emily's step-grandfather (a point he and Rey tried not to acknowledge, and when they did, awkwardly. Poe always said it made him feel old before his time).

"Hi Mum-Mum!" Emily chirped, her tooth-gapped smile spreading wider, accentuating the adorable dimples in her cheeks. "Have you seen Mommy and Daddy?"

Zorri smiled and kissed her little granddaughter's head. "They're in the temple, probably just finishing up a demonstration."

"Thanks!" Emily tottered on ahead. Passing a small cliff face, she spied an old man sitting in what little shade it provided. She waved. "Hi Grandpa Jack!"

Jack Braidy was 98 years young and showed no signs of slowing down. Emily was the grandchild he never got to experience. He grinned at her warmly. "Hi, sweetheart! Just came back from running drills. Your mother's just inside."

Emily entered the Temple. Gym mats covered most of the floor, and in front of her, she could observe close to 40 Skywalkers dueling it out in pairs with lightsabers. Among them, she blushed when she picked out Temiri Blagg, a handsome youth of 19 and her mother's first successful apprentice. On a bleacher off to one side, Emily finally caught sight of her parents, happily and openly kissing.

"Yuck!" Emily made a face. "Daddy! Mommy! Stop it!" She ran over to them and tried to pull them apart, which only resulted in her father casting her playfully over his shoulder and peppering her mother's face with more kisses.

Rey beamed with playful love. "Emily Leia Padme Solo! Don't interrupt!" she chided with amusement. Rey positively adored her daughter - her "little miracle," she called her. She had arrived on a sweltering Tatooine night, emerging screaming into the world after putting Rey through nineteen hours of childbirth. But every single hour had been worth it, all of it, to see Ben hold their daughter for the first time with abject wonder.

Emily just grinned impishly. "Yes, Mama."

Mama... never would Rey tire of hearing that word. In the arms of her husband, and with the embodiment of their love - their child - within her sights, Rey knew she had finally found the family she had always wanted.


End file.
